The present invention relates generally to parental control devices for limiting access by children to certain types of audiovisual material. More specifically, the present invention relates to a user interface for a computer or other information handling system that provides a single point of user control for parental locks for multiple audio and/or audiovisual devices.
The exposure of children to inappropriate material on television, such as sexual content, violence, coarse language, and so forth, has long been a concern. Recent technological developments now allow parental control of what children may see on television. For example, the so-called v-chip technology provides a decoder to decode program rating data encoded into a program at the time it is broadcast and to selectively pass or block television programming based on the rating level set.
Such parental control systems potentially eliminate the need for program censorship, thus providing greater freedom of expression for broadcasters, while providing an opportunity for parents to control, even in their absence, children""s access to audiovisual material according to their own values and child-rearing philosophy. However, because parental control schemes place the responsibility of protecting children from viewing inappropriate material with parents, even the most fail-safe of parental control systems will be of little value if parents are unable or unwilling to exercise this responsibility. For example, television broadcasts use MPAA ratings, such as G, PG, PG-13, R, and TV ratings, such as TV-Y, TV-Y7, TV-Y7-FV, TV-G, TV-PG, TV-14, TV-MA. In some schemes, a xe2x80x9cfantasy violencexe2x80x9d (FV) indicator may be added to the TV-Y rating, and indicators for violence (V), sexual situations (S), language (L), and dialog (D), may be added to each of the TV-PG, TV-14, and TV-MA ratings. In addition to blocking individual programs based on ratings, television locking systems also provide channel locks. DVD systems may employ a numbered rating system, for example, a scale from 1-10, with associated MPAA ratings.
Because various audiovisual devices employ different locking schemes and different user interfaces, operation of the parental locks may be confusing. In some instances, a user may believe that certain rating levels and/or devices are locked when they are not, as where a device allows locking individual levels. In some devices, selecting a level locks that level and all levels above it. In other devices, however, an individual level may be locked, thus allowing, for example, the PG-13 level to be locked while the R rating level is not. Similarly, locking TV movies at a certain level has no effect on DVD movies. As additional rating schemes and locks become more commonplace, such as electronic program guide (EPG) or DSS ratings, digital television (DTV) ratings, etc., it is likely that the procedure for setting locking parameters will only become more complex.
Therefore, there exists a need for a system and method that provide simplified control of parental lock settings for audio and/or audiovisual devices in an audiovisual system.
In general terms, the present invention is a system or method for controlling one or more, and preferably two or more, parental control subsystems within an entertainment system. Although the invention will be described herein in terms of xe2x80x9cparental controlxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cparental locks,xe2x80x9d it should be recognized that such terms are intended to encompass any other person, in addition to parents who desire to prevent access of children to inappropriate audiovisual content, such as administrators of computers or networks available to the public, such as in libraries, on display in a retail environment, and so forth, or persons who display A/V material where children may be present, such as in-flight movies displayed on an aircraft, and so forth. The system includes a computer interfaced to an audio and/or audiovisual device having a native parental control subsystem or locking mechanism having adjustable parameters. In a preferred embodiment, the system includes a computer interfaced to a plurality of audio ad/or audiovisual devices, wherein at least two of the audio and/or audiovisual devices comprise a native parental control subsystem or locking mechanism having adjustable parameters. A software locking mechanism operates the computer to allow a user to input one or more general parental control parameters and then sets the adjustable parameters of each native parental control subsystem within the system by mapping the parental control parameters onto each separate, native mechanisms for each device.
Although the present invention will be described primarily in reference to TV broadcast ratings and MPAA motion picture ratings, it will be recognized that the present invention is not limited to the particular ratings systems or ratings locks described below and illustrated in the drawing figures. Other ratings include, for example, DVD ratings, electronic program guide (EPG) ratings such as Telstar, EchoStar, or other EPG systems, digital television (DTV) ratings, or any other ratings standards as are now available or as may become available in the future.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the invention as claimed. The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate an embodiment of the invention and together with the general description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.